Monica Niculescu will face off against in form Kirsten Flipkens in the quarterfinals of the Moorilla Hobart International after overcoming Chinese world No.33 Shuai Peng in a marathon three set match. After 2 hours and 45 minutes on court the 25-year-old Romanian eventually prevailed 3-6 6-4 6-4.
Both have had outstanding starts to their 2013 campaigns. Niculescu reached the semi-finals at the Shenzen Open in China last week and Shuai Peng already eliminated the tournaments top seed Su-Wei Hsieh on Monday.
A highly entertaining match between two players with completely different playing styles, Peng relied heavily on her powerful two-handed groundstrokes to hit winners, while Niculescu preferred to wear her opponent down with slice shots and used her speed, agility and excellent court coverage to her advantage.
Speaking about her unusual play style, Niculescu said “I play lob then slice, then I come into the net, then drop shot, then hard ball and you never know what to expect from me. I’m a difficult player and I feel it’s tough to beat me because I’m running a lot and I catch every ball.”
Peng certainly found Niculecu’s style of play difficult and despite taking the first set 6-3, she never really adjusted to the variety of shots the Romanian threw at her. Niculescu opened up an early 3-1 lead in the second set but in the following 3 games neither player was able to hold serve with Peng taking it up to the world number 54 to level at 4-4. Niculescu eventually found her stride to win the set 6-4.
The final set was a war of attrition and even after over two hours on court both players refused to give in. The longest game of the match came at 4-4, in which Peng had 3 break point opportunities to effectively seal the match. A relentless Niculescu battled hard to fight off the threat and hold serve eventually taking the deciding set 6-4.
“I’m really happy and I think it’s the best I’ve ever played,” said Niculescu. “I think I served really well today and this was a key of the match and I think I improved more than 2012 to be honest.”
Niculescu must now back up to play Kirsten Flipkens in tomorrow night’s singles feature match.
By Nick Cuthbertson.